this post was submitted on 12 Jul 2025
993 points (99.2% liked)
Microblog Memes
8527 readers
2612 users here now
A place to share screenshots of Microblog posts, whether from Mastodon, tumblr, ~~Twitter~~ X, KBin, Threads or elsewhere.
Created as an evolution of White People Twitter and other tweet-capture subreddits.
Rules:
- Please put at least one word relevant to the post in the post title.
- Be nice.
- No advertising, brand promotion or guerilla marketing.
- Posters are encouraged to link to the toot or tweet etc in the description of posts.
Related communities:
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Good intentions and all, but the full video context (the vehicle just keeps going and the blocker moves out of the way after several seconds of nudging) makes this a terrible example that only reinforces the sense of futility, in my opinion.
Not saying not to stand and fight, but this isn't the posterchild to use.
Perception is more powerful than reality. You think the tankman from china actually accomplished much. But he is still a symbol today.
I still find it so odd the tank didn't want to run him over, when just the day before they had tanks running over hundreds of bodies over and over to the point where they could just spray the remains with a fire hose into the sewer.
When there are many people, you don't have to look at individual faces. When it is one calm and harmless man, you can find the tank driver is human too. The driver was probably execured or something for not running the guy over.
I realize that. But there are countless current examples of real resistance and sacrifice that could have been used instead.
But do they have the same optics. Will they be perceived like this one? Probably not.
Okay post a really good picture right here in the thread.
It's more than any of us have done. Often, genuine actions and words are much stronger than any impact they may initially have.
Nothing about how this was presented is genuine though, and that's my point.
And plenty have done more. People are constantly martyred fighting back, in part because they have been actually willing to die for their cause. Any one of them could have been used as a more authentic representation of resistance than this... and have more of an impact because it's not a cherry-picked, out-of-context fabrication.
I realize we're post-truth, but jeez.
We can't keep fighting with the weapons of yesterday. Like it or not, propaganda is a part of resistance. Look back at all the WW2 propaganda in the US and the UK. We must take control of the message.
I don't disagree, propaganda is always part of it. But use something less flimsy (if not outright contradictory when viewed in context) because this particular example loses "control of the message" with the slightest bit of scrutiny. If it's going to be a fabrication then just use a piece of art, a rumor, or at least something vague/unverifiable rather than a single frame of an easily available video that shows the opposite of what is implied.
Perception is reality, but if you build it out of twigs then it'll become a liability that will do more harm than good.
The blocker pussied out in the end? Was about to get his own Tiananmen moment but decided that taking a stand for what's right should only come when personally safe to do so
Tankman travels through time!
One person stopping a vehicle, the other judging the people in the vehicle like a disappointed parent.
"Do your mothers know what you're doing?"
"Would your Grandmother be happy with you right now?"
"You aren't being the neighbor that Fred Rogers knew you could be!"
I'm always amazed at how powerful that single sentence is to almost all Americans.
Unfortunately, many conservatives hated Mr. Rogers because he told children that they have intrinsic value as people.
Direct link to the actual toot source.
The second image is a bit on the nose IMO. The comparison was clear enough from the original. And yeah maybe some people need it pointed out to them, but I suspect those people are also the ones who will reject the idea regardless.
There are probably some out there, especially younger people or those who have only recently started educating themselves, who simply haven't seen the second image before.
Maybe, but I'd say if they don't know Tank Man, seeing it in this context without further explanation is still unhelpful. Because they're likely to think it's a photo taken in America today.
I'm just thinking about the Venn diagram of people who know who George Takei is, are of the right kind of mind that they would actually see the link between the two images, but have not seen the second image.
Probably not a huge overlap but then again adding it for even just a few doesn't do any harm.
He shares it, people who follow him share it with people they know, which may include some fringe magas, and maybe even some full-blown magats.
not to mention the amount of people who dont know its a still of a video with tiananmen square in the background.
i didn't even see the guy in the first picture until i looked at the second and realized what i should be looking for
Huh, fair enough.
Humvee Man
Wait until the tankies come in here and tell you this guy was trying to stop them from leaving and asking them to go back and detain more immigrants while also claiming there were no immigrants there anyways
If you are talking about tank man i can just show you you can clearly see tiananmen square in the background and the direction the tanks are going and where the guy is pointing.
can't wait for that one guy from .ml to show up and argue that Tiananmen Square was a peaceful protest and post links claiming that there were no deaths recorded there.
You dont need to make a strawman of what mls believe, you can just quote the wikipedia and ignore the claims by countries that have a reason to fabricate hostile evidence. If you want to go further, look at testimonies by witnesses that corroborate the side opposed to where they currently live.
Its also important to try to understand why the chinese feel the issue is contentious and the various perspectives, as opposed to letting the other side tell you how the chinese feel and why.
There is no positive justification for tanks on a city street what the fuck are you even talking about.
it's a new account of a known tankie. Just block and ignore
load more comments
(7 replies)
10 men!
view more: next ›